Mines of this type are to be distinguished from mines that are buried in the ground, for example by suitable digger equipment. Buried mines are intrinsically capable of being positioned with great accuracy in location, depth and orientation.
The same is not true of scatterable mines which, in contrast, are merely "broadcast", ie. thrown out onto the ground higgledy-piggledy from a point above the ground. The mines then fall to the ground where they may bounce and roll before coming to rest. Once they come to rest they must be in an active position, ie. both armed from the pyrotechnical point of view, and properly oriented relative to the ground.
To enable such mines to be properly oriented, a first type of scatterable mine is generally flat in shape, ie. its diameter is greater than its height. Such a mine thus has two large faces and a relatively narrow peripheral edge. Once on the ground it comes to rest on one of its large faces. A reversible arming system is thus provided, (eg. with a rocker member) so that the upwardly directed face is always the sensitive face of the mine. Such a mine solves the positioning problem, but does not lend itself to a wide range of possible charges, precisely because of its reversibility. This structure is furthermore generally restricted to small caliber scatterable mines.
In another type of scatterable mine, correct positioning is ensured by one or more arms for deploying after impact to right the mine so that its sensitive face points upwardly. However, because of their small area of contact with the ground, such arms do not always achieve the proper position, particularly on rough ground or on muddy ground (where they tend to sink in).
Preferred embodiments of the present invention reduce these drawbacks.